Friday, August 24, 2018

Were You Attacked Today With Yesterday's Hacking Technique?

We’re all familiar with the idea of recycling as a means of reducing the waste stream. Most of us are in the habit of separating our paper, plastic, glass and metal trash from other garbage. What you may not know is that recycling is a major trend in the hacker community, too. Many of the data breaches that have struck in recent years were accomplished using software that has been around for a long time -- today’s hack, yesterday’s technique.

Tools that have been proven effective at fooling users and sneaking past network defenses are regularly reused by hackers. Whether the software was developed specifically for hacking or as a tool with a legitimate purpose that has been adapted for a less savory one, the hacker community has become expert at extracting value from what already exists. As with commercial software development, it takes time and money for hackers to write and test their code, and in order to maximize their profits, it makes sense to recycle what works. Often, these tried-and-true products are packaged and sold to others, furthering their potential to do harm.